Address by
DR HUSSEIN A. GEZAIRY REGIONAL DIRECTOR
WHO EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION to the
REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON CHEMICAL SAFETY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND
PROFILES
Cairo, Egypt, 27-30 October 1996
Your Excellency, Distinguished Participants, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Regional Workshop on Chemical Safety, organized by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean with the collaboration of the International Programme of Chemical Safety and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Government of Egypt and His Excellency Dr Ismail Sallam, the Minister of Health and Housing, for their kind cooperation and support in the organization of this workshop.
Humans are surrounded by chemicals and are in perpetual contact with them, intentionally or unintentionally, through soil, air, water and food. It is estimated, that there are over 11 million known chemicals. Every year some 100 000 chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and pesticides, are being produced on industrial scale. Annually 1000 to 2000 new chemicals are being added. As a result of such a large amount of chemical use, about 400 million tonnes of hazardous waste are produced each year. Agricultural use of pesticides results into their deliberate release into the environment in large amounts: we know that unwise agricultural use of pesticides can cause serious occupational hazards for farmers as well as for the public, who may come into contact with the pesticides in sprayed fields or by consuming contaminated agricultural products. The amount of pesticide used for public health purposes is also increasing with increased urbanization. It is estimated that by the year 2005, every second person on earth will be an urban resident.
Huge quantities of chemicals are used in industry. Industrial activity produce chemical wastes in gas, liquid or solid form—such wastes are probably the most serious source of environmental pollution and health hazards. The deliberate release of certain chemicals into atmosphere, for example sulfur dioxide, nitric oxides, carbon monoxide and lead, are a growing threat to human health. The release of ozone-destroying chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons, into the atmosphere are responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer. The thinning of the ozone layer allows increased ultraviolet
radiation reaching the earth. This increase could change genetic structure, alter immune systems, damage crops and increase the global warming effect. It is worrying to note that we may even be exposed to hazards of indoor chemical pollutants, such as formaldehyde, asbestos and mercury, inside our own homes.
The release of toxic chemicals in industrial accidents has resulted in national catastrophies and can cause great loss of human life and damage to the environment. All the potential health and environmental threats caused by toxic chemicals make it imperative to ensure proper procedures and standards for the safe use of chemicals.
Despite the fact that chemicals can cause harm to humans and the environment—and there are hundreds of ways and places where, if care is not taken, damage can take place—it is well understood that chemicals are essential for the economic and sociocultural development of humanity. Therefore, it is logical that safe use of chemicals should be a top priority.
Chemical safety is defined as the prevention and management of the adverse effects of chemicals, both short-term and long-term, on humans and the environment during their entire life-cycle, from production to storage, transportation, use and final disposal. The statement that “no chemical is entirely safe, but all chemicals can be used safely” forms the basic philosophy behind all the efforts towards safe use of chemicals.
Modern chemical safety is a comparatively young science, despite the fact that the harmful effects of toxic plants, poisonous animals and occupational diseases caused by lead in slave workers in lead mines have been known for a long time. The awareness about occupational hazards, the concerns and knowledge about chemical safety in food, water and air grew in the 1940s, which marked the starting point of chemical safety activities.
During the present decade, two international forums, the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the International Conference on Chemical Safety in Stockholm in 1994, have brought chemical safety into the public eye and have stepped up the efforts at all levels towards ensuring safety from toxic effects of chemicals.
The Regional Chemical Safety Programme at EMRO, responsible for the development and strengthening of national programmes for safe management of chemicals, provides essential support to WHO Member States. The Regional Centre for Environmental Health Activities in Amman, Jordan, offers support through research and training activities.
The Regional Chemical Safety Programme, with the support of International Programme of Chemical Safety and the ILO, UNEP, FAO, UNIDO, OECD, CEU, the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety and the Interorganization Programme for Sound Management of Chemicals are striving to provide essential support to
Member States to enable them to implement the six priority programme areas identified in chapter 19 of the Agenda 21, the blueprint for global change presented at the Rio conference.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it goes without saying that the responsibility for successful implementation of the six priority areas primarily lies with the national authorities of Member States. However, they deserve to be supported by international organizations.
For example, national programmes need to develop the capability to utilize and adopt internationally evaluated information on health risk assessment of chemicals and also design their own assessments of priority chemicals; they must adopt internationally accepted classification of chemicals by hazard and the chemical labeling system; they should establish means for information exchange on chemical hazards and risks within and outside countries, such as establishment of national chemical emergency response centres and making available computerized databanks on potentially toxic chemicals to the institutions and organizations concerned; and establish and strengthen national risk reduction activities. In this respect, countries could, for example:
• establish focal points and institutions responsible for chemical risk reduction;
• strengthen chemical risk management at the work place;
• introduce and improve better emission control technology and establish pollutant release and transfer registers;
• adopt safe use and disposal of pesticides and contribute to global chemical pesticide use reduction schemes;
• adopt internationally established systems for prevention, preparedness and response for industrial and other major chemical accidents;
• establish and strengthen poison information and control centres;
• adopt international policies on persistent organic pollutants;
and
• participate in prior informed consent schemes for banned or restricted chemicals.
Ladies and gentlemen, the most significant area which requires focused attention at the country level is the strengthening of national capabilities and capacities for the management of chemicals. All the activities discussed above contribute towards strengthening national capabilities and capacities. But nothing much can be achieved if these activities are not implemented in a sequential and coordinated way and are not supported by adequate and functional legislation.
It is extremely important that a system be in place in each country to ensure sound management of chemicals through coordinated activities and the provision of legislation and its enforcement.
For long-term systematic and coordinated development of chemical safety at country level, it is of tremendous value to maintain an up-to- date national profile, which is the main theme of this workshop.
Profiles indicate the current status and future national needs and capacities for management of chemicals and provide appropriate strategies to implement and enforce chemical risk management measures.
From the above, it can be clearly noticed, that a tremendous amount of input and effort is required from national authorities. They surely deserve all the support they can get from international agencies.
It is gratifying to note that a number of UN agencies are working towards this end. In this context, it is worth mentioning that WHO/IPCS, UNEP, ILO, FAO, IRPTC and UNIDO have produced a wealth of information in computerized and other forms on various topics of chemical safety, which provide very valuable support to national chemical safety programmes. At the same time, it is interesting to note that national authorities are expressing their willingness to shoulder their responsibilities not only at national level but also at the international level in the form of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety.
In conclusion, I wish to say that a strong will is evident at both national and international level to ensure the safety of chemicals.
Therefore, I would like to end on this positive note—“where there is a will, there is a way”. I feel confident that the prevailing conditions and the rapid developments in this field point towards a chemically safer 21st century.
I know that you have a difficult task ahead of you in the coming four days. I wish you success in your deliberations and look forward to your recommendations concerning the best ways to make optimal use of chemicals, yet ensuring prevention of their adverse effects on humanity and the environment, I expect that the workshop will stimulate the development of chemical safety programmes in Member States in a more harmonious and sustainable way.
